


The Shaky Decline

by princelogical



Series: The Human!Sides College AU Verse [6]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Bad Eating Habits, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Overworking, burnouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 19:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12564972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princelogical/pseuds/princelogical
Summary: Logan’s burnouts start slow and progressively quicken to a forest fire where he’s in the middle of it all, stressing about an assignment due in three months.or.The 5 signs that Logan’s approaching burnout.





	The Shaky Decline

**_1; coffee._ **

Patton’s best subject is not math, but he’s decent at it. On average, Logan drinks 3 cups of coffee per day. One minute after he wakes up he’ll drink a cup, then he’ll have another around 3:00 pm. Then lastly, he’ll drink another at 6:40 pm. It’s easy to figure out when Logan is such a man of routine. But sometimes, Logan will begin to concern Patton.

He’ll drink his usual morning coffee. Then Patton will see him in the halls at 11:00 am and he’s drinking another cup. Then he’ll drive Logan to work and he’s drinking another cup. He’ll come back to the dorm from work and see Logan in the middle of the organized chaos known as his textbooks, drinking a large coffee. Patton will tell Logan to go to sleep and Patton will crawl into bed, hoping Logan will listen. Then he’ll wake up, 2:00 am, and Logan’s creeping quietly out of the dorm; Patton’s knows he’s going for another refill. And Patton lays in bed, fighting tears of _worry_ because often, there’s nothing he can do.

**_2; rambles_ **

Logan rambles.

Patton loves to listen to him ramble, even when he only picks up on half of exactly what Logan is talking about because the boy is such a genius. It’s healthy for Logan to ramble, even unprompted, several times a day about various topics. The history of Shakespearean plays, statistics on how many people prefer french-fries to chips, and on good days, Logan will ramble on about how much he loves space. The vastness of it all and all the facts he has stored in his brain.

And Patton loves to listen.

But on bad days, Logan still rambles. He rambles about the insurance he’s barely able to pay and rambles on that’s it’s because his mom withdrew $50.00 from his bank account to pay for a college application she submitted without his permission. He rambles about how many assignments he has to do and how he logically should be able to complete them in X time frame if he does X amount of work. And he’ll ramble on and on about very significant things as he drums his fingers against his thigh.

And Patton will listen, pained as he watches Logan ramble himself into a coughing fit from his dry throat. Patton will hand him a water bottle and suggest Logan takes a nap.

Logan will refuse; he’ll say he has to call his mom.

**_3; phone calls_ **

Logan will begin calling his mom more often. He’ll argue with her for hours on end while Patton pretends to be sketching. Logan will beg for something of his mom; Patton thinks he’s asking for her to leave him alone. Let him get work done. Then he’ll hang up and look blankly at the walls and whisper, “Be logical. Be logical, Logan. Be logical.” He’ll start drumming his fingers again, softly against his thigh.

Patton will set his sketchbook down on his bed and tip-toe over beside Logan ever-so-softly. He reaches for a blanket and gently pushes it into Logan’s lap. Logan will look at him and look so confused that it’ll hurt.

“Go to sleep, kiddo.”

“I have an assignment-”

“Due next week. You have time for a nap.”

Patton goes back to his bed and returns to his drawing. Logan unfolds his blanket and pulls it tightly around himself as he curls his feet under him. He will continue to stare ahead; he won’t sleep, but he doesn’t lunge for his textbooks the moment Patton’s eyes drift away from him. So Patton calls it a partial win.

**_4; food_ **

When Logan begins approaching complete burnout point, he stops eating regularly and this is the stage that worries Patton most of all. Logan will spend his lunchtime working on assignments or talking to his mom; Patton wishes he could take Logan’s mom’s phone and fling it into the ocean. He’ll forget breakfast and when Patton reminds him Logan will just stare at him uncomprehendingly until a small light clicks in his eyes and he’ll promise Patton that he will grab something in the café.

Thank God Logan doesn’t like to lie; he finds it illogical. So Logan _will_ grab something from the café, but it will be a small muffin and a cup of coffee. On really bad days it will just be coffee.

On days that Patton picks Logan up from work, he’ll swing through a drive-through where the awkward boy he’s become fond of works. Patton orders two sandwiches and two glasses of water. Then he’ll pull off and hand Logan his food. Silence fills the car minus the sound of Logan carefully and slowly unwrapping his sandwich.

Some days it ends here; the silence mixed with the simple purchase of a $2.00 sandwich that Logan for some reason calls _kindness_ , will do something to Logan and he’ll rant for a good hour. And for some reason Patton can’t comprehend, Logan _takes_ the advice Patton gives him and things will be okay.

But some days, really bad days, Logan will choke on his sandwich, because he forgets to chew before swallowing the bite that’s been in his mouth for five minutes. And he’ll cough and forget to breathe for a moment and tears will shove so desperately at his eyes, but Logan will trap them because crying is _illogical_.

The night will be spent in silence; Patton will hate himself for being so useless in the face of his best friend’s struggles.  

**_5; breakdown_ **

Sometimes they reach full-on burnout. The fire will burn so vividly and horribly around Logan and Logan will be surrounded by four empty cups of coffee and all of his textbooks. Logan won’t know which assignment to touch first; his phone will be ringing on the floor, exactly seven feet from his body. Logan will be drumming his fingers and be whispering something about prioritizing.

Patton doesn’t care that Logan’s an adult; he doesn’t care. He’ll yank Logan up like a child and kick aside all the textbooks. Logan gets angry and yells at Patton to leave him alone. The phone will start ringing again and Patton will snatch it up and power it off. Then he shoves it into a drawer and turns to glare at Logan who stares up at him from the floor; the fingers keep tapping in a perfect rhythm.

Patton crouches down. He places his hand on Logan’s hands and squeezes; the fingers stop tapping.

“It is a method I use to ease anxiety,” Logan says quietly. Paton will let go and instead wrap arms around Logan’s midsection.

The fingers resume their tapping. Logan never returns Patton’s hugs, but Patton knows for sure they’re one thing Logan doesn’t mind. His body will relax just a small fragment and one hand will come up to softly pat Patton on his bicep.

“Go to bed,” Patton whispers.

“I have too much on my mind,” Logan will respond.

“Then tell me about it.”

Logan will listen for once; he’ll begin one of his rambles. And he’ll even allow a few tears to lazily trace his jawline. Patton will listen and he won’t talk or offer advice. Logan doesn’t need that; he just needs someone to listen to him steadily.

Logan will say things feel hopeless; then he’ll quickly rush to explain why the feeling is illogical.

Patton will gently assure him it’s not illogical to feel.

Logan will say it’s illogical to feel hopeless.

Patton will agree. Then he’ll say that even still, it’s not a crime to feel hopeless.

Logan will tell Patton he’s tired.

Patton will tell Logan to go to sleep.

Logan will just stare ahead.

“Thank you,” he’ll tell Patton, “for listening.”

Patton hates it when people thank him for stupid things like that; things that they should be _used_ to. But Patton has a sick feeling in his stomach that Logan’s not used to little things like that. Like people noticing when he’s struggling. Not used to people caring.

People listening.

“It’s no problem at all,” Patton will assure.

Logan will finally lay down and minutes later, his breathing will deepen and Patton knows he’s asleep. And Patton wishes that these things didn’t happen; he wishes Logan didn’t drive himself into the ground so often. But it happens less often; Logan tries. He’s opening up. He’s _blooming_.

Progress.

**Author's Note:**

> The irony of it all is I was up last night at about 2:00 am and I was literally swimming with anxiety and then this idea flashed through my head like, "The five signs of a burnout." And then I had to pull out my journal and write down the general concept of my terrible idea. AND honestly, this fic is so self-indulgent; I like to write ppl getting stressed and then comforted bc I get second-hand comforted from it somehow and WOW, I need to shut up, I am rambling sm rn omlll. 
> 
> I ALSO ORDERED A SUPER CHEESY BUT SWEET ROMANCE BOOK I READ AND ADORED WHEN I WAS 14 I JUST WANTED TO SHARE BC IT CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY AND I AM SO HAPPY *finger guns* 
> 
> Okay, okay, sorry, anyway, let me know what you thought! Since this is becoming my thing, here's my mandatory ending question: What's the silliest/strangest thing you've ever purchased at a store, whether online or not?


End file.
